“Here, I raise my mask a little.⁠ ⁠… Oh, only a little!⁠ ⁠… You see my lips, such lips as I have? They’re not moving!⁠ ⁠… My mouth is closed⁠—such mouth as I have⁠—and yet you hear my voice.⁠ ⁠… Where will you have it? In your left ear? In your right ear? In the table? In those little ebony boxes on the mantelpiece?⁠ ⁠… Listen, dear, it’s in the little box on the right of the mantelpiece: what does it say? ‘ Shall I turn the scorpion? ’⁠ ⁠… And now, crack! What does it say in the little box on the left? ‘ Shall I turn the grasshopper? ’⁠ ⁠… And now, crack! Here it is in the little leather bag.⁠ ⁠… What does it say? ‘ I am the little bag of life and death! ’⁠ ⁠… And now, crack! It is in Carlotta’s throat, in Carlotta’s golden throat, in Carlotta’s crystal throat, as I live! What does it say? It says, ‘It’s I, Mr. Toad, it’s I singing! I feel without alarm⁠—co-ack⁠—with its melody enwind me⁠—co-ack! ’⁠ ⁠… And now, crack! It is on a chair in the ghost’s box and it says, ‘